Panama Crisis – Live Blog Feb 7

And to top it up: Here’s the agreement of today, in Spanish, as a PDF.

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President Martinelli is still invisible. What now should happen is that the mining law with the clause that prohibits mining in the comarca is passed with urgency by the National Assembly. It looks like until that happens, the Ngöbe will maintain vigils at various points throughout the country.

So, dear readers, after 11.5 hours of non-stop live blogging throughout this historic day, we’re going to leave you for a bit. You can read back all today’s events below, and we’d like to thank the substantial number of visitors for their attention.

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In Bocas they don’t really believe it yet. Almirante has not had electricity for 40 hours now, and the road blocks will disappear, says a Telemetro reporter, when the activists have seen the agreement with their own eyes.

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In Volcán the road is still closed, and will stay closed until they hear from their own authorities to open it. Ngöbes say they’ll go to Panama City to watch agreed law being passed.

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Protesters who walked all day now interviewed on Telemetro near presidential palace. Cautiously optimistic, they fear this agreement will turn out to be another lie by the government, and they will be on alert until the law is passed that bans mining on their lands.

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On the web, in the media, everybody is congratulating Silvia Carrera and Bishop Lacunza. Nobody has any nice words to say to Papadimitriu, and less so for Martinelli.

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Silvia Carrera asks Panamanian people to be the watchdog of implementation of the agreement, and make sure that this is not just another lie by the government.

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The absolute winner of today:

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One can only admire the leadership of Silvia Carrera, the cacique of the Ngöbe people. After all the violence and knowing that she could win battling it out, she still chose dialogue and led her people to victory. Not just by having demands met, but also with a huge moral victory over Martinelli, who just days ago insulted her with condescending macho talk.

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More agreement: The Assembly will have to include the ban on mining in the mining law as agreed last year, and there will be an independent human rights organization to investigate the events of the last couple of days.

This means, in short, that the Ngöbe have won on virtually every front.

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Riot police will be withdrawn, helicopters to disappear. Bishop Lacunza of Chiriquí will be the grantor of the agreement.

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AGREEMENT REACHED! The repression will stop, arrested protesters will be freed, medical attention for wounded, compensation for family of victims. Security of indigenous leadership will be guaranteed.

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Time for a word about another typical Panamanian term: The “callcenters”. This refers to a group of individuals who, paid by the government, set out to attack, criticize, harass and slander opposition figures, journalists and anyone else who disagrees with Martinelli’s policies on FaceBook, Twitter and elsewhere. While Martinelli himself has stayed invisible during the crisis, these “callcenters” are working on overtime. A favorite target is Telemetro journalist and talkshow host Alvaro Alvarado, who isn’t extreme at all but asks more questions than most others. He just let me know that los callcenter are still vehemently at it, now demanding that he asks for their permission first before sending out a tweet.

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Martinelli’s press secretary Luis Camacho just announced that there will be a press conference shortly about progress being made in the negotiations.

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Reportedly, CNN International just dubbed Martinelli Panama’s “supreme leader”. This was the official term that military dictator Omar Torrijos invented for himself.

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And the National Police @protegeryservir twitter account is retweeting messages of support – many of those sent from fake Twitter accounts.

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The National Assembly is in recess until an agreement has been reached in the dialogue in San Lorenzo.

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The march on its way to 5 de Mayo and the presidency has grown in size over the day:

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The president, from his hideout, tweets that he is now fully behind the dialogue between government, the indigenous people and the Church.

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Cinta Costera and Avenida Balboa blocked because of yet another demonstration. At the same time, the presidential guard is beefing up security around the presidential palace while the large Ngöbe march is making its way there.

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The National Police is getting desperate to clean up its reputation after days of carnage, abuse and bloodshed. After killing a 16 year old, they tweet a statement denying that they have ever abused or mistreated women, minors or anyone else for that matter. There is overwhelming recorded evidence to the contrary.

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In La Estrella, lawyer Idalia Martínez strongly criticizes the police guarding Martinelli’s Super99 stores, saying that “they’re not even keeping up appearances any more, showing that in this country security depends on privileges and preferences”. Ouch.

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The University of Panama will reopen next Thursday, Telemetro reports.

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Deputee José Luis Fabrega denounces that the police wouldn’t let him enter the National Assembly building.

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It appears protesters don’t really like right-wing gringo propagandist Don Winner. Gets camera beaten.

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A screenshot of one of yesterday’s “highlights”: The daughter of Security Minister Raul Mulino tweets that, liberally translated, if an indigenous person doesn’t let her through on her way to the beach, she’ll run him over, as nobody can stand in between her and the beach. The girl’s twitter account was closed within an hour after this was published, and Minister Mulino did not comment.

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Cacique Silvia Carrera tells the Ngöbe to stay on alert pending the ongoing negotiations with the government.

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We just read that there is a protest ongoing in Guatemala City as well, in front of the Panamanian embassy there.

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Calle 50 closed at the offices of the ombudswoman. After having been pushed and beaten by the police when she tried to protect pregnant women and some kids, Patria Portugal came out strong against Martinelli.

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The Financial Times Beyond Brics blog about Panama:

Panama City has been transformed in recent years into a “Dubai of the Americas”, complete with a Trump Tower – a real-estate boom fuelled by double-digit growth.

But the go-go economic policy of the nation’s president, Ricardo Martinelli, a supermarket tycoon, has suddenly hit trouble in the face of protests.

Read the rest here.

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In Coronado, the police is also guarding Martinelli’s Super99 supermarket. How about his house at Punta Barco?

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These protesters have been marching for almost 8 hours now, from 24 de Diciembre, now reaching 5 de Mayo.

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If you read Spanish, check out this article about the myths surrounding hydroelectric projects in Panama. Green energy and employment is in reality destruction of the environment, exploitation and intimidation of the population, and these projects are only viable thanks to dubious carbon credit schemes.

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The negotiators in San Lorenzo are back at the table after a lunch recess, reports Flor Bocharel Q. for La Prensa.

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While being accused of multiple murders, National Police retweets complaints about a broken car window.

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The Ngöbe protest march is now in Via España, passing the Banco Nacional building. Students join them.

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Don Winner on Panama Guide continues his disinformation campaign:

The government doesn’t need the copper mining project in Cerro Colorado anymore, because they have the massive Inmet copper project. So, there’s no need whatsoever for the government to grant mining concessions within the comarca.

Actually, members of the government have made statements to the effect that they DO want to exploit Cerro Colorado.

The problem has arisen because the protesting indigenous Ngäbe Buglé Indians are trying to expand the original agreement to include hydro-electrical projects, and the agreement reached in San Felix last year didn’t mention those types of projects.

In fact, the agreement DID include exploitation of water resources, and in addition president Martinelli has explicitly stated that no hydroelectric projects would be done in the comarca.

The Indians are also trying to greatly expand the scope – to include a prohibition and cancellation of all mining concessions that have been granted, everywhere (read: Inmet and Petaquilla).

Not true either. Ngöbe leader Silvia Carrera said this morning that “we do not govern outside the comarca”. Furthermore, similar protests last year ended when a deal was made about the comarca which did not include anything outside.

In other words, beware this agent of disinformation.

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More on the international front: The Inter American Commission for Human Rights – part of the Organization of American States – urges Panama to guarantee the safety and physical integrity of protesters. They also condemn cutting cellphone and internet service to the area as a violation of the freedom of expression.

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According to journalist and teacher Rafael Canda, Martinelli enjoyed watching the police repression on Sunday from the comfort of a helicopter overflying the mayhem.

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The Academic Council (ahem) of the University of Panama is currently trying to make up its mind if they will re-open or not. Closing the University has not stopped students from organizing protests.

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The negotiators in San Lorenzo have taken a pause to each discuss among themselves the demands of their counterparts.

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Vice-President Juan Carlos Varela has given a very weak performance over the last days. His Panameñista party just published a statement:

• They condemn the repression against protesters and the use of violence;
• Martinelli doesn’t respect democratic procedure;
• The authorities will need to come clear about the wiretapping of phones of activists, union leaders and opposition figures;
• Dialogue is the only way to solve this crisis;
• Martinelli will need to change his autocratic style of government.

There is little to suggest at this point that Varela will use his authority as VP for anything but making these statements.

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United Nations weigh in:

“I urge the Government of Panama and the Ngäbe-Buglé, Emberá and Wounaan peoples to initiate a dialogue process as soon as possible with the purpose of finding a peaceful solution to this conflict situation,” said Special Rapporteur on indigenous rights James Anaya, referring to the recent clashes between indigenous representatives and the Panamanian police.

They had earlier offered to mediate. Full story here.

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The government now uses the police, paid with tax payers money, to guard Super99 supermarkets – which are owned by president Martinelli. Yesterday, protesters stormed a Super99 in Calidonia.

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And still no sign of Martinelli, who is somewhere hidden inside the Presidential Palace, acting like a submarine.

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Anonymous Panama posted a video yesterday announcing #OpPanama, stating that the time for dialog is over and that action will be taken against a violent and corrupt government.

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Empresaurio Juan Francisco Kiener, president of the Syndicate of Panamanian Industrialists, says there is no justification for the indigenous demands and violence. Predicts that if there are no hydroelectric dams built in the comarca, the country will only have electricity for two hours a day – which is, frankly, a totally absurd statement and not supported by any data at all.

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Minister Papadimitriu, who is part of the negotiating team of the government, says that the Public Ministry should investigate the use of firearms by the police. The police had earlier announced an internal investigation. The difference is merely cosmetic; the Martinelli government firmly controls the Public Ministry and cases that involve government members or actions are routinely shelved.

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Teachers in Los Santos closed the road for about an hour. Meanwhile, the AEVE teachers union of Veraguas denounces threats from the Ministry of Education against its members for participating in protests.

Teachers in Colón also protested against the repression of the Ngöbe.

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Here they come! The Ngöbe march passes Juan Diaz. Tumba Muerto is closed, Calle 50 is closed, Via España is closed for all practical purposes as various groups will join in and head towards Plaza 5 de Mayo.

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Police can’t keep up any more, they now just tweet that road closures are “culminating”.

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Tomorrow there will be a protest in front of the Panamanian embassy in San José, Costa Rica, in solidarity with the indigenous population of Panama.

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Unconfirmed reports of 35,000 Ngöbe coming down from the hills to support the protests.

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SUNTRACS in Calle 50, Panama City. They were marching there yesterday too, and many people spontaneously joined them, beating pots and pans. The teachers unions, construction unions and banana plantation unions have been most visible in their support for the indigenous cause.

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Construction workers in Panama City are marching in Calle 50.

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In Viguí, protesters are standing aside the Panamerican highway, waiting for results coming out of the negotiations and prepared for anything. In Volcan the situation is calm, but the road remains closed.

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Phone service is still down in big parts of the comarca.

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MIDDAY RECAP. Time to summarize events so far today:

• Several members of the government have arrived in San Lorenzo where negotiations have started with the Ngöbe representatives. Both sides, as ell as the Catholic church, have been asking for calm and civility.
• Protests are still expanding throughout Panama. A Ngöbe march is on its way to the Plaza 5 de Mayo in the capital, joined by student marches and others.
• In Bocas del Toro, light is out in Almirante as protesters took down electricity masts. Roads are blocked at several places.
• A second (but some say more) victim has been confirmed.
• Costa Rica has closed its border with Panama due to what media term “guerrilla warfare”.

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Another indigenous people, the Embera Wounaan, have declared themselves in a state of “civil disobedience” in protest against ongoing assaults on the indigenous people of Panama. They demand the resignation of Raul Mulino and Gustavo Perez and negotiations at the highest level.

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There was an interesting rumor floating around on the social media networks yesterday. Minister of Security Raul Mulino had been planning to leave anyway, and has been found willing to burn his reputation with all the ridiculous and contradicting statements over the last days. He would then resign in disgrace and be succeeded by chief of police Gustavo Perez. Again, this is a theory, a rumor.

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Students block road at El Espiney school in La Chorrera.

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Another shocking video of battle and police brutality, last Sunday.

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Meanwhile, students are marching from the University of Panama towards Via España, where they plan to join the Ngöbe march that has been moving towards the city center from the 24 de Diciembre area.

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Ngöbe leader Rogelio Montezuma called for a pause in demonstrations while talks with the government are being held. He specifically addressed the Ngöbe groups in Boquete, Volcan and Barú to open the streets.

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Banco Nacional in Rio Sereno is boarding up doors and windows, fearing that Ngöbe protesters may storm the branch office.

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Ngöbe leader Silvia Carrera just tweeted that they are in dialog with the government, but they want Martinelli himself to face the Panamanian people.

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In Changuinola, Bocas del Toro, the offices of the Ministry of Labor were stormed by angry protesters. Minister of Labor Alma Cortés is not very popular – to put it mildly – here due to her denigrating remarks about indigenous protesters two years ago and a series of broken promises by the government regarding unpaid salaries and working conditions.

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More gruesome pictures circulating of this wounded teenager in Lomas, yesterday evening. The police says he was messing around with a home-made “explosive”. Other versions have it he was shot in the face by the police.

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A series of articles published in La Prensa in 2010 shows that there are no less than 63 concessions for hydroelectric dams in the Chiriqui province alone, of which 17 are being constructed right now.

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La Estrella reports that mobile phone service is about to be re-established in the area of the protests. This has been a demand by the Church as well as the Ngöbe, while the government has maintained a bizarre series of explanations for the interruption (see below)

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“The native protests in western Panamå have become guerrilla warfare. Costa Rica has closed the border, and public buses are not running.” Reports AMCosta Rica

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José Blandón: “In the midst of this crisis the president, instead of asking the opposition leaders to help establishing a dialog, sends them threats”.

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Saul Mendez, SUNTRACS leader, is on Radio Panama now. Analyzes that lack of public debate in Panama – under all governments – leads to scenes of the last days.

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Eric Jackson has a new story up on The Panama News:

Ricardo Martinelli has rarely shown his face during the crisis, but he did send out his surrogates to justify the previous day’s crackdown. This, however, turned against the administration when Security Minister José Raúl Mulino, who was attempting to make the case that he had to lie about the government turning off the cell phones (he alleged sabotage) in order to thwart “extreme leftists” when he was confronted with a series of photographs taken by La Estrella’s Eliezer Oses. These pictures of an officer drawing and firing a pistol contradicted Mulino’s claims that an indigenous student who was killed in San Felix the previous day could not have been killed by police because the cops at the scene had no lethal weapons. The Martinelistas deployed their “call center” propagandists to allege that the photos were photoshopped fakes, but eventually they backed down and said that the officer would face disciplinary proceedings. While Mulino backed down on that issue, the Augustinian Friars in Tole issued a statement responding to his allegations of the previous day that they had engaged in inciting violence. The day turned into a public relations rout for the government.

Worth a full read.

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There is a protest going on in front of the Panama embassy in Barcelona.

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Veraguas teachers union AEVE – which has been out in the streets to protest against Martinelli’s treatment of the indigenous people – says its websites are being attacked by hackers.

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The latest from Bocas: No electricity in Almirante, as protesters took down electricity poles. That is probably because of the fact that the government, despite earlier promises, has refused to pay for the use of their land for these masts.

Roads continue to be closed in Bocas. You can not go there by car or bus.

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Nowhere in the news today, but yesterday the Bocas banana workers announced that they’d be on strike and roads in Bocas closed at several points.

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In Colon, Chiriqui en Bocas the schools are closed, and the University of Panama is closed too.

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Ministers Demetrio Papadimitriu and Ricardo Quijano just arrived at David airport to attend the negotiations with the Ngöbe.

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Frenadeso says on its Facebook page that some policemen in Chiriqui last night refused to participate in the repression.

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The now infamous video of repression and the police arresting minors. The latest victim was only 16 years old.

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On Radio Panama someone is telling us that Btesh and Virzi are holding concessions for hydroelectric plants in the Ngöbe comarca. Both are associates of Martinelli.

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President Martinelli has been invisible over the last days, but Minister Giselle Burillo just said on TVN that he has been on top of everything in the Presidency. At least we know he still exists….

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Silvia Carrera, the cacique general of the Ngöbe people, just tweeted that they are in San Felix, preparing the negotiations, and waiting for Martinelli himself.

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José Isabel Blandón, a prominent legislator, just denounced on TVN that president Martinelli has been calling opposition figures and threatened to throw them in jail.

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International calls to stop the violence against protesters, here, as gruesome pictures continue to surface.

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Erick Simpson Aguilera has a good video up on his blog, a short documentary (in Spanish) which explains the struggle of the Ngöbe against exploitation. Go see it.

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The news about the latest victim of the violent police actions will probably not be of great help to get the dialog going that’s planned to start in just over an hour now.

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Another protest at Loma Coba, Arraijan. This is extra juicy because yesterday government legislator Marylín Vallarino, who represents Arraijan, talked on Twitter about “drunken en drug abusing indians” who owe all misery to themselves. She has been declared persona non grata by the Arraijan protesters.

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La Prensa says that the Panamerican highway is open again.

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The Panamerican highway is closed by construction workers in Arraijan, at the new Westland Mall, and at Farallon, near Playa Blanca.

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Minister of Economy Roberto Henriquez said this morning that there aren’t any mining concessions in the Ngöbe comarca. Environmentalist Raisa Banfield says that that’s a lie, and declared earlier that about tow third of the comarca is under concession.

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This is the second victim, shot in the face by the police. His name is Mauricio Méndez and he was a minor.

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SUNTRACS in Chiriqui says that there has been another death as a result of confrontations with the police last night in Chiriqui.

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At this moment an indigenous protest march is on its way from 24 de Diciembre to the center of the capital.

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Late last night, the police posted a video supposedly showing protesters firing a rifle at them. We think it looks very old, and in the last frames there is another cameraman in the picture. Fake or real? What do you think?

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The indigenous people maintain vigils throughout the country while awaiting the start and results of the dialog. There is one on Plaza 5 de Mayo in the capital, and another one in Volcan, where yesterday evening protesters battled with the police and the police station went up in flames.

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Newspapers today open with the planned dialog, to which the government has finally agreed after days of violence and bloodshed. La Prensa’s front page is dedicated to the meeting that will start at 10:00 AM in San Lorenzo, Chiriquí.

La Estrella also talks about the dialog, with Education Minister Lucy Molinar asking for “lowering intensity”. School teachers have been out in full force over the last days, protesting in support of the Ngöbe.

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